Agents: Hardin Co. lures buyers with land, lower prices

By Amy Moore

Published 10:49 am, Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Southeast Texas Realtors say the region is entering a new housing boom, post recession. Most homebuyers are opting to move to Hardin and Orange counties because they can get more house and land for their money.
Photo taken in Lumberton.
Photo taken Friday May 09, 2014
Guiseppe Barranco/@spotnewsshooter less

Southeast Texas Realtors say the region is entering a new housing boom, post recession. Most homebuyers are opting to move to Hardin and Orange counties because they can get more house and land for their ... more

Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

Agents: Hardin Co. lures buyers with land, lower prices

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

For the first time in several years, Debbie Hughes is getting multiple offers on homes she's selling in Orange County.

When buyers battle for a new home, it's a sign that the economy - and the real estate market - is picking up, said Hughes, of Jerry Hughes Realty in Orange.

After several years of notably low and slow homes sales because of the nation's economic downturn, Realtors in Southeast Texans are starting to see more people buying and selling, with many opting to move within the Golden Triangle.

Hughes said rather than packing up and heading out, a number of people are finding jobs and homes here near their hometowns.

Hester Bell of Re/Max Beaumont said although she loves to sell Beaumont homes, the hottest local relocation area right now is Hardin County.

Bell, who has been a local real estate agent for nearly 40 years, said the business of Realtors is people who are scaling down from large homes or the reverse, have growing families and need larger homes - both of which are available up Texas 69 and 96.

Bell said she just closed on a home with a couple who opted to buy in Lumberton not for any reason other than they could choose from a large selection of newly constructed homes.

In more rural areas like Hardin County, brand new, affordable homes are being built on larger lots for the same prices as smaller homes and lots in Beaumont and Mid County.

"For what they can get out there, they can't in Beaumont," Bell said. "Those homes are selling like hotcakes because they're more affordable," she said. "In Beaumont, nobody's building houses for $200,000."

Jennifer Baird, Realtor with Coldwell Banker Southern Homes in Lumberton, said many people have jobs in the Beaumont, Port Arthur or Mid County refineries and it would seem that those areas would be hot spots for home sales, but they're not.

"They're making the drive to get what they can for the home in Hardin County," Baird said. "Sour Lake and Lumberton are my biggest areas. I have people waiting for homes to come available there."

Bell said Fannett is also a popular area.

Baird said several new subdivisions in Lumberton are leading the surge in new home sales in Hardin County.

In the last year there have been 77 new homes sold. The year before that, there were 56 and the year before that only 48, she said.

Along with the lower home prices and more land there, Bell said Hardin County doesn't require windstorm insurance coverage like Jefferson County does, adding another economic element to living outside county lines.

And then there's the issue with Beaumont ISD.

"(Beaumont) Taxes and the school thing is in everybody's face," Bell said. "It's scaring them even if they don't have children."

"Many of us (real estate agents) have experienced clients who don't want BISD," she said. "The ones who end up coming say they want Sallie Curtis and Regina Howell (schools), because they hear they have higher ratings."

Todd said she never quotes ratings, but tells buyers that there's nothing wrong with Beaumont ISD schools or teachers, just the administrators and school board members.

Even with the issues in Beaumont ISD, the district's enrollment has seen small increases over the past few years, according to the Texas Education Agency's enrollment records online.

Lumberton, Hamshire-Fannett and Hardin-Jefferson school districts - the districts most closely surrounding Beaumont - haven't experienced much enrollment growth or shrinkage at all, according to TEA.

"One of the elements that cause families to re-locate to nearby counties is the quality of schools," said Lloyd Potter, Texas state demographer.

He said that re-locating to be within better school districts still allows parents to keep their jobs and commute to a nearby county, a common element in Southeast Texas culture.